Yana Seel has returned to the management of XDS Astana. The 42-year-old Belgian of Kazakh origin has held the position of Chief Executive Officer of the team since early October, a role she had already held from 2019 to 2021 before continuing her professional experience at Lotto Dstny and UAE Team ADQ.

Having left the Emirati team on the eve of the Tour de France Femmes, Seel is now working to develop programs and future strategies for XDS Astana. «As general manager, I will work to make the team grow both financially and commercially as well as organizationally» the manager told colleagues at the Belgian news outlet hln

The newly appointed executive, recently returned from a trip to the East, also explained that «with the bicycle manufacturer XDS as second sponsor, great attention is also focused on the Chinese and Asian market».

Seel will also contribute to the team's sporting management by collaborating with Alexandre Vinokourov: «Together we will make decisions on transfers, race programs and other sporting matters», she assured.

Pressed by her Belgian colleagues, who reminded her of past rumors about differences of opinion with Vinokourov, Yana Seel replied: «I can only say that I did not return to Astana to argue with "Vino", but to collaborate with him and achieve good results».

Photo. A recent image posted on social media by Yana Seel